


Give a little, take a lot

by BoomyMcBlasty



Category: Baldur's Gate
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Character Study, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Slight spoilers, can work with both female and male player characters, no beta we die like men, your OC here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27460672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoomyMcBlasty/pseuds/BoomyMcBlasty
Summary: “Were you two talking about me?” When Astarion walks over, his eyes are sharp like shards of ice. He towers over you two, standing with a hand on his hip.Wyll is unfazed by the posturing. “As a matter of fact, we were.”Astarion is usually a better actor. “Oh?” When something displeases him, his face turns sour no matter how hard he tries to conceal it.“We were talking about how badly—” Wyll grins. “—you need a bath.”
Relationships: Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Original Character(s), Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Original Female Character(s), Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Original Male Character(s), Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Reader, Astarion/Charname (Baldur's Gate)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 191





	Give a little, take a lot

The silver curl that falls on Astarion’s forehead has been taunting you for days.

_ Touch me _ , it says;  _ brush me away from his face _ . 

Yet you don’t dare reach out for him. Astarion likes things done his way, deliberate and intense; you quietly long for what’s easy and too early for him to give you.

“Has that apple offended you?” Wyll sits next to you by the campfire.

The bitten apple in your hand is already turning brown.

“I was just thinking.” You take another bite.

Wyll’s smile turns teasing. “ _ Pining _ , you mean.”

He got you there.

“Aw, don’t make that face.” He elbows you gently. “You’re sweet on the lad and that’s fine by me.”

“I thought a monster hunter would be against such...” How can you keep it vague enough? “ _ Fraternizing _ .” 

His lips turns thin, his eyes sad. You remember his deal with Mizora, his own  vagueness  about it and feel bad for reminding _him_ of his own fraternizing.

“I can tell you to be careful and—” Wyll sighs. “Call me a hopeless romantic, but I believe we can show Astarion what  _ good  _ can do. We can show him he has a choice.”

You pat him on the shoulder. “You are a good man, Wyll.” His smile turns easy once again.

“Were you two talking about me?” When Astarion walks over, his eyes are sharp like shards of ice. He towers over you two, standing with a hand on his hip. 

Wyll is unfazed by the posturing. “As a matter of fact, we were.”

Astarion is usually a better actor. “Oh?” When something displeases him, his face turns sour no matter how hard he tries to conceal it.

“We were talking about how badly—” Wyll grins. “—you need a bath.”

Astarion freezes for a second and then clicks his tongue. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

He can’t take a dip in the Chiontar like the rest of the party; he would dissolve in a puddle of acid, never to be seen again. He’s never been vocal about this weakness, but he can’t hide a pout.

“Well, then.” You stand up. Scratch will take care of the apple soon enough. “Good thing we got a bucket from the druids, mmh?”

Wyll wiggles his eyebrows—is it a  _ good luck _ or an  _ I’m sorry _ ?—then walks off. “I’ll leave you guys to it.”

Astarion locks eyes with yours—his are still sharp, still wary. “You were not talking about baths, were you?”

“No.” You gesture for him to follow you. “He was telling me to be careful.”

He steps in front of you, touches your arm just so. “You know you can trust me.”

You really wonder if you  _ should  _ when he uses that sickly sweet tone, the one that he must have used countless times with countless other lovers, all lured to their deaths.

Sometimes you wish it didn’t work, it didn’t pull you closer to him. 

Something in your face must have made him realize his mistake. “That’s not—” His grip on your arm becomes more solid, but it’s still gentle as not to hurt you. When desperation tinges his scarlet eyes, it makes them look prettier.

“I mean it.”

He must hate sounding sincere, sounding vulnerable, but you cherish every time you manage to see what’s underneath his mask.

You relax your shoulders, place a hand on his own. “I know.”

“Good.” He doesn’t sound convinced. You briefly wonder if he ever will, if he will ever trust you enough to drop the act.

_ It’s still too early. _

“So… do you want that bath or not?” 

He follows you to your tent, then to the shore, at a safe distance from the waves lapping at the sand. The silence makes you feel uneasy, but he is the first to break it.

“Anyway, what do you think about Wyll?”

He asks questions like that to set you up, but you usually know how to play along. You dip the bucket in the river to buy some time. 

He doesn’t plan to  _ kill  _ Wyll, does he? Neither bed him, you hope. Is Astarion jealous, perhaps? Now  _ that’s _ wishful thinking.

“He’s… OK?”

Astarion’s smile grows wider. “As I thought.”

Once the bucket is filled to the brim, you start wobbling towards the campfire; after placing it next to it, you dry your hands on your sleeves, under Astarion’s watchful gaze.

“What about Gale?” His nonchalant tone is suspicious. 

“What about him?” 

He’s the one initiating a conversation, for once; is he throwing you a bone, or is the bone for himself? 

“You see, I had a vision. A plan.” The glint in his eyes is worrying. “Once we reach Baldur’s Gate, we make Gale teleport on one of the spires of the Szarr mansion. Did I say  _ on _ ? I meant  _ in _ .”

Ah, so he was dancing around the subject. “You want him to…?”

“ _ Impale _ himself on it, yes.” Astarion sounds unfazed by the gruesome image he just painted. “He’ll be so high up that nobody will notice the aura of necrotic magic around him. And after a few days…” Astarion opens his hands and wiggles his fingers. “His corpse will explode, killing Cazador and the entire coven in an instant.”

“...leveling the entire city as well, if Gale is to be believed.”

Astarion shrugs. “I’m sure his little bomb is not as dangerous as he claims.”

Still, you humor him. “And what happens after he explodes?”

“We check for survivors, slaughter any still alive, resurrect the wizard and go our merry way, of course.”

You don’t know what to say, so you don’t say anything.

Astarion could talk to you about anything, but he falls back on what he knows.

You feel very lucky. You have never been consumed by a fear potent enough to mold your entire being, potent enough to seep through and drench and poison your soul.

“No?” He asks lightly.

“I don’t think Gale would appreciate it.”

Astarion locks eyes with you again. “But  _ I _ would.”

He’s got you figured out, in his own way. His slanted smile is enough to make your cheeks hotter, but not enough to mess with your moral compass. 

He drops the topic and dips a finger in the water. “Mmh, warm enough for me.”

Astarion walks off and after taking a deep breath, you take the bucket and follow  _ him _ . He takes you to the cage, to a corner that’s well-lit yet shielded from prying eyes.

You place the bucket on the ground and smile awkwardly. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

You’re about to turn when he places his finger on your jaw. That makes you still. His gentle touch guides your head, makes you face him.

“Why?” His low voice reverbs in your chest.

Why indeed? It’s not like you haven’t seen him naked. 

Will this lead to anything? Does it have to lead to anything to be meaningful? More wishful thinking. His mask is still on, but he’s not watching his scarred back.

You slowly reach out for him and brush his hair away from his face. The curl that usually rests on his forehead is now captive between your fingers.

**Author's Note:**

> Wyll is such a bro, I LOVE him. I saw his reaction to the PC giving Astarion to the monster hunter in the swamp and I was like "!!! he called Astarion LAD". He's so supportive at the party as well... he would totally be down with being a wingman. So that's what he does here.  
> One day I'll have the guts to write the spicy scenes I set up.  
> I hope you liked this one-shot!


End file.
